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BJP MPs protest over 'harmful' tag for areca nut

New Delhi, December 17, 2013, DHNS:

Opposing the Centre’s move to classify areca nut as “injurious” to health, BJP parliamentarians from Karnataka staged a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Parliament complex on Tuesday.

Led by H N Ananth Kumar, the BJP members from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, demanded the reversal of a proposal by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to treat areca nut as injurious to health. “As areca nut is grown in more than 11 districts in Karnataka and lakhs of families depend on the crop for their livelihood, the government should take the areca-growing states into confidence before taking any decision on classifying it as a harmful product,” he said.